WHOA! WAIT! WHAT?!
Okay okay, we know the MACs weren't around in 2011,

Give us a break aww geez!

But this year they're back!

"Orchestral" you say?!

- That's right! Whether blasting out an action packed sound-scape for a movie's chase scene, or elegantly playing a light waltz for a grand ball, an orchestra is a versatile group of classical instruments that can produce a fantastic variety of enthralling music.

- The primary focus of this contest will be on pieces of music comprised primarily of instruments that are used in an orchestral or symphonic setting.

- Synthetic instruments may be used, but cannot be the primary focus of the piece. Instruments that are synthetic and/or electronic in nature CAN NOT be continually used in a dominant manner. For example, one can use a violin plugin, or brass plugin, but not a theremin plugin. One can use an acoustic guitar plugin, but not an electric guitar plugin. One can use a bells plugin, but not an 8-bit plugin. Keep in mind that any of the aforementioned synthetic instruments can still be used in a supporting role. They just can't be the primary instrument of your entire submission, like you might hear in symphonic black metal.

- Realism of instruments won't be as important as arrangement. Meaning, if you have extremely realistic sounds, but just use the strings section and not much else, your song might not have as much a fighting chance as a less realistic-sounding submission that has more varied usage of orchestral instruments.

- Luis has mentioned that as an animator, it is sometimes easier to animate to music that has a mood change or an emotional change, such as:
Happy to sad
Scared to relieved
Stormy to sunny
You get the idea. Your chances of winning may improve if your song conveys a mood / emotional change.

- No piano-only songs, or any single-instrument pieces. Remember, the main focus of the contest is usage of an orchestra.

- Songs can be a maximum of 5 minutes. However, slightly longer songs may be taken into consideration and reviewed on a case-by-case basis. There will be no minimum time limit, but please, use your objectivity and common sense... "Does this track constitute a complete full-length song?"

- Collabs are not allowed at this time. Collaborative linking has not been implemented into the audio portal at this time, so it would be difficult to award prizes to a collab winner, for example.

- Voices can be used, provided that:a) It is not sampled from copyrighted recordings.b) It is 100% your own recording and creation.c) You can ask another artist or group to provide vocals, as long as all material is newly created for your submission, and you provide the details of the vocalist(s), who they are.

- Submissions must not contain material offensive in nature.

- No covers. All melodies contained in your submission must be composed ENTIRELY by yourself.

- Songs must be NEWLY COMPOSED and created for this competition.

- Each competitor can submit only ONE song for this contest.

- Please submit your entry using your regular account, not an ALT.

- Have fun! Lots and LOTS and LOTS of fun!!!

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DATES & DEADLINES

From now until Wednesday February 15th 11:59 PM EST:
Submissions will be accepted

Sunday, February 19th:
The Top 8 finalists will be announced, and their submissions will be closely scrutinized by the finalists' judges.

Sunday, February 26th:
The Top 4 winners will be announced.

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AWARDS

- First of all, one of the submissions that place in the TOP 8 will be used in a collaborative project produced by none other than Luis!

this is super nostalgic, haven't been here in years. no epic brass or angelic choirs here I'm afraid, just a demented contrapuntal potpourri. reduced ensemble with english horn, two horns, glass harmonica, harp, divisi violas, divisi cellos and contrabass. less is more!